Precision agriculture merges new technologies born of the information age with a mature agricultural industry. It is an integrated crop management system that attempts to match the kind and amount of inputs with actual crop needs for small areas within a farm field. This goal is not new, but newly available technologies allow the concept of precision agriculture to be realized in a practical production setting.

Because precision agriculture has frequently been defined by the technologies that enable it, it is often called GPS agriculture or variable-rate technologies. But as important as such devices are, it only takes a little reflection to realize that information is the key ingredient for precise farming. Managers who effectively use information earn higher returns than those who don't.

Our goal at MU Extension is to provide educational opportunities that will help farmers understand how to adopt and manage the technologies associated with precision agriculture in order to improve profitability and efficiencies while protecting the environment.

Find guides, videos and other types of precision agriculture information on this site.